Sunday, August 24, 2014

Why is Latin America Taking a Stand on Gaza?

Since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge—Israel’s ongoing military campaign in the Gaza Strip—pro-Palestinian demonstrations have occurred across the globe, including in the United States. Prominent among them was an action last week, in which roughly a thousand Bay Area activists blocked an Israeli cargo vessel from docking in the Oakland port. The act sought to raise awareness about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and apply economic pressure on Israel for its hand in creating it. But such efforts do not seem to be swaying politicians in the United States. On August 1st, all one hundred US senators voted to allocate 225 million dollars of emergency funds to rearm Israel in the midst of a conflict that has killed over 2,100 Palestinians, three-quarters of them civilians, as well as 68 Israelis, 4 of them civilians. But south of the US border, steadfast loyalty to Tel Aviv is by no means the norm. Recently, many governments in Latin America have been joining their populations in condemning Israeli aggression. KPFA’s Andrew Klein filed this report from Buenos Aires.

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The Evening News on Pacifica broadcasts each weeknight from the studios of KPFA-FM in Berkeley, the nation's first listener-supported radio station.

The Evening News is a collaboration of KPFA and its sister stations KPFK-Los Angeles and KFCF-Fresno. This hour-long broadcast seeks to bring unreported and under-reported stories of interest to Californians, with a focus on issues of peace, and social & economic justice.